Get a grip on Johnston Canyon's frozen trails

Upper Falls' ice formations quite spectacular

As a mother of three teenaged sons and a preteen daughter, I get the urge to say those four little words almost every day. Fortunately, I hold myself back -- most of the time.

"You really shouldn't take those ice cleats off," I advised my 15-year-old son as we were participating in the Johnston Canyon Ice Walk in Banff recently.

The four-hour tour leads up steep, icy trails built into the canyon walls and past the lower and upper icefalls of Johnston Canyon. Even though the ice cleats kind of look like rubber Teva sport sandals fitted over your shoes or boots, they actually do help to keep you upright.

We had already passed several other hikers who had decided to brave the trail without ice cleats and some of them were struggling.

You could say that my son half listened to the well-intended parental advice, because he only removed one of his ice cleats and skidded along the slipperiest parts of the trail on one foot. And you could also say that we only half laughed when he ended up falling on his rear-end about halfway through the tour, but that wouldn't be entirely true.

Johnston Canyon is one of the most visited sites in the Canadian Rockies and one of the most popular hikes in Banff.

In the summer, the sound of swirling water dominates, but in winter it is a silent world of frozen waterfalls and pillars of translucent blue ice.

Our tour began earlier in the day when we were picked up and transported to Johnston Canyon by bus. After donning ice cleats, our guide Anick, a young woman from rural Quebec, led us up the trail towards the lower falls, stopping often to point out sites and explain geological features along the trail.

Over thousands of years, the creek has scoured a deep trench into the limestone, leaving myriad fascinating shapes in the canyon walls and uncovering fossils along the way.

She explained that every year the canyon, which is 30 metres deep in some places, becomes a little deeper as rushing water wears away more limestone at a rate of about two millimetres per year.

The 2.7-kilometre trail that leads to Johnston Canyon Upper Falls is a well-trodden path in the summer, but you can walk for quite a distance without seeing any other hikers during the winter months.

Just past the one-kilometre mark, you come to the Johnston Canyon Lower Waterfalls, a spectacular falls at about 20 metres high.

We stopped to look at the ice formations glistening in the afternoon sun before following the trail further up past five smaller frozen waterfalls and pools that lead to the Upper Falls.

The Upper Falls are quite spectacular at any time of year. As we stared in wonder at the frozen ice formations, Anick reminded us that in August 1999, Tao Berman of Seattle set a Guinness World record when he rode his kayak over the nearly 30-metre Upper Johnston Falls. It was hard to imagine someone accomplishing the feat without injury when you saw the jagged rocks surrounding the frozen falls.

We made our way back up the path and found a place to stop to enjoy cookies and hot chocolate with the rest of our tour group before continuing down the trail at our own pace to the van.

Our children chose to slide on their coats and snow pants down some steeper spots, ensuring that the trail remained slippery for future hikers who chose not to wear their ice cleats.

Debbie Olsen is an Alberta-based freelance travel writer and mother of four.

If You Go:

- We experienced the Johnston Canyon Ice Walk as part of a guided tour offered with Discover Banff Tours. The tour included ice cleats and hiking poles, hot chocolate and a light snack, and hotel pick-up and drop-off. It departs in the morning or in the afternoon and lasts for four hours. The total distance hiked is 5.4 kilometres. It costs $64 per adult and $40 per child aged eight to 12 to participate in the guided tour. For reservations or information, visit: banfftours.com or phone 1-877-565-9372.

- If you want to do this on your own, consider purchasing your own ice cleats at a local hiking or sports store and heading up the trail. The simplest ice cleats start at about $9.99 at Canadian Tire. A pair similar to those used by the tour company will cost about $30 when purchased at a sporting goods stores in Banff. Tour companies offer ice walks through April in Johnston Canyon.